


Sugar Helps

by AngelofMuses



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Other, cute auntie maria, helping oscar while everyone else sulks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-27 23:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16711681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelofMuses/pseuds/AngelofMuses
Summary: After Ozpin disappears, Oscar doesn't have many options for comfort. Maria decides to fix that, immediately.





	Sugar Helps

**Author's Note:**

> First RWBY fic! I really like Oscar, and after recent events he's one of my favorite characters to expand upon. Please leave a comment with your thoughts!

                His head felt empty, and that was terrifying. Oscar had prayed so many times that he could wake up one morning, and Ozpin would be gone. His thoughts would be his own again, and he could go back to the farm without the constant thought of a mission floating just behind him. But now that Ozpin really was gone, Oscar felt like something was missing. There was a tight, choked feeling making its way up his spine and he did his best not to let tears come to his eyes. It wasn’t that he missed Oz. He didn’t, in the slightest. That bastard could go lock himself up in a mental cage and wither away for all he cared, but his absence made Oscar’s skin crawl. Maybe he had just gotten used to the presence of someone else’s emotions. Until now, Oz usually felt confident. He knew where they should go next, he always had one more secret up his sleeve, and he always talked like there was some end goal that Oscar could achieve if he just kept going.

                In that last moment before he disappeared, Ozpin had felt more terrified and helpless than Oscar ever did. No plan. No more secret weapons.  No more trust. Even if Oz took his guilt with him, it lingered in Oscar’s thoughts. Everyone hated him. He couldn’t hide his mistakes anymore. A breeze carrying a flurry of snowflakes blew past the team, and Oscar brought his arms in to hold himself. Everyone else was shrugging off the cold like they couldn’t even feel it. It was probably something about Aura. He wished he could ask, but the tension among the group was palpable and he did not want to be the one to break the silence. Even if it wasn’t his fault, Ruby was the only one who even bothered to differentiate him from Ozpin at all. He was the last person who should ask for something right now.

                “Sonny, you’re shivering like a leaf.” Ms. Calavera slipped off Yang’s motorcycle, and everyone in the party turned to stare at her, and subsequently Oscar. Yang in particular was glaring so hard that if looks could kill, Oscar might’ve reincarnated already. Ms. Calavera took off her shawl and threw it at him, catching him in the face. He stumbled and nearly fell over, but the old woman steadied him.

                “Ma’am, I can’t take this, you should probably keep it, it’s freezing out here.” His teeth chattered on the words. Oscar pushed the cloth back at her, praying that this would go quickly and everyone would stop staring.

                “Son, you look thin as a twig and you clearly can’t activate an aura on your own. Just huddle up and stay warm, no one is gonna be happy if you pass out and we have to drag you to Atlas.” Oscar tried his hardest not to look at Yang, who was still staring daggers. Qrow had taken the brief stop to down more liquor while Ruby stared at Oscar in pity. Oscar tried to shrink into Ms. Calavera’s shawl and prayed to the gods that they’d keep moving. The cloth was thick and warm against him, and the smell kinda reminded him of his aunt’s house. It didn’t do anything to quell the discomfort crawling through him, though.

                “Thanks…” The farmhouse came into view shortly after that, thank the gods. After an argument that Oscar kept himself as far as physically possible from, everyone stepped tentatively into the house. It was eerily empty, and all the wood creaked when anyone stepped on it. Once the bedrooms were all determined to be empty, every shuffled off to their own devices. Team RWBY went into a bedroom by themselves, Yang slamming the door behind them. Qrow went to the basement in search of more alcohol. Oscar began shuffling to another empty bedroom, hoping to sleep this whole nightmare off, but Ms. Calavera’s voice stopped him.

                “Don’t run off just yet.”

Oscar fumbled for the shawl. “Ah, sorry. You can have this back, I forgot I was-“

                “I don’t care about that. Keep wearing it, you look like you’re going to catch death without it.” Ms. Calavera slid a chair out from the dining room and plopped down on it, beckoning Oscar over. He reluctantly stepped into the dining room, only sitting down because Ms. Calavera pulled out a chair for him. He clutched his hands together in his lap, nervously fidgeting. The gnawing, empty feeling inside of him had yet to diminish even a little.

                “You look as if a Grimm is about to snatch you up any second now. Relax a little, son. I’m not going to hurt you.”

                Oscar did his best to stop moving and appear calm. He failed, miserably. “S-sorry Ms. Calaver-“

                “I’m putting a stop to that now. You call me Maria. I’m not delusional about my age, but I don’t want to feel _that_ old!” Maria chuckled as she playfully slapped his shoulder. Oscar let out a small breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in. At least she didn’t seem angry with him. It was hard to tell with her mechanical eyes, but she didn’t look like she was glaring.

                “Is there something you want to know…?” Oscar asked hesitantly. He didn’t feel ready to try to explain everything that had happened, but he supposed it would be confusing for her to witness everything without context. Considering everyone else was trying to deal with it, he was the only one left who Maria could ask.

                Surprisingly, she didn’t. “Not particularly. Well, to rephrase, there is a hell of a lot that I don’t understand and I want to know, but this is definitely not a good time to ask. I’m more concerned about you, son.”

                “Me?”

                Even without irises, he could still tell she was rolling her eyes. “You don’t look a day over thirteen, and you just went through a nightmare you most certainly didn’t sign up for. Your cheek still hurt, by the way?”

                “A little, I guess.” It was amazing how quickly she could move at her age, considering it was less than five seconds that Oscar felt a biting chill against his face.

                “I hate to make you even colder, but I figure some ice on the bruise might help a little more than freezing winds.” Oscar took the ice pack- where had she gotten one so quickly?- and held it against his face. It stung a little, but it was certainly better than nothing.

                “Now, I’m gonna get you a hot drink, and then we’re gonna find you something warmer to wear than some old woman’s clothes.” Maria said it bluntly, and then began poking around the kitchen. Oscar tried to stand up and help her, but she waved him back down. “Nope, you sit there and try to warm up while you deal with that bruise.”

                “Are you sure? I could…” Oscar trailed off, trying to find some way he could be of use.

                “Don’t need any youngin’s help, cause I just found us an emergency store of hot chocolate and fire dust!” Maria triumphantly held up the packets. It seemed as if it only took a few seconds for Maria to crack the fire dust packet and boil some water before Oscar found a steaming hot mug thrust in his face.

                “You can drop the ice for a little bit, this should have a healing power of its own,” Maria declared as she began sipping her own mug.

                “Is that your aura or something, healing?” Oscar asked tentatively, recoiling when he burned his tongue on the stuff.

                “Nope, just a small bit of kindness and sugar goes a long way to making things hurt less.” Maria winked, but her eyelid got stuck mid-close and she had to hit it to open it back up again. Oscar couldn’t help the small chuckle that managed to get through.

                “Now who are you laughing at?” She made the words sound stern, but the wrinkled smile on her face gave her away. Oscar let out a shuddery sigh, drinking hot chocolate in small intervals. He hadn’t expected kindness from anybody anytime soon, and yet the one stranger in his group was giving it to him. More and more, she was reminding him of his aunt.

                “Thank you for this. I’m really grateful for what you’re doing.” He spoke softly, shyly staring down at his mug.

                “Well if you want to thank me, then you better yourself into something warm and start working on that aura! Hot chocolate cures bruises, but pneumonia is a matter that I, frankly, do not want to deal with.” Maria sipped at her hot chocolate again. “Also, you mind helping me up the stairs? I think the bedrooms down here are all gonna be taken and my knees are not made for stair-climbing in the cold.”

                “You could take my bedroom down here, so you don’t have to use the stairs at all, Ms- Maria.” Oscar’s offer barely finished before Maria was rebuking him.

                “Your bedroom? Last I counted, there’s only three of those things in a house like this, and I’m not sleeping with the drunkard or the slumber party. You’re coming with me,” She huffed. She made no room for argument, so Oscar didn’t bother.

                He smiled into his mug. He was happy he didn’t have to be alone tonight.


End file.
